Chapter 54
Sunday, 7 December 1941
0740 EST
Women's Nursing Barracks
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Shelia had no idea why she had woke with only four hours and twenty-three minutes of sleep, and some days she just hated that she had the ability to know that fact. Her alarm was set for 0830, since she did not have to be on duty until 0900. Those thirty minutes gave her just enough time for her shower and to dress. Then she would grab a piece of fresh fruit to eat on her five-minute walk to the hospital and she would still arrive ten minutes early for the start of her shift. Shelia liked that extra time to get settled in before she started the day in earnest.
But today for some reason she was up early. The feeling of dread from the night before was overwhelming now. She tried with all her will to talk herself out of waking the other nurses, but something inside her said she had to. So at 0745 with much grumbling and a few curses Shelia had all the other nurses awake.
Telling them to get dressed as quick as they could and head to the hospital, she did not wait to see if they did, but took off at a run herself. Three minutes later, Shelia arrived to a quiet hospital ward. Not having a clue why she was doing it, she began to prepare for a massive influx of patients. Some how she just knew that in six minutes all hell was going to break loose.
A few of the other nurses were straggling in five minutes later, still grumbling about why they were up and here so early on a Sunday. Shelia looked out the window, not knowing what to say. Kris was coming up the walk at 0753 when the first bomb dropped. It nearly knocked her off of her feet. No one knew what it was, but they all knew that it was something bad happening. Within minutes there were bombs dropping everywhere on their side of the island.
Sheila spared a quick thought for Adam, but knew that with his training he was probably already fighting whatever enemy was daring to do this to them. Her thoughts, however, were swiftly brought back to the business at hand. Injured men were walking or being carried in at an alarming rate. Glass windows shattered around them, forcing them to move all of the patients away from the windows. Shelia had never seen such carnage in all her years as a nurse, and she spared a quick prayer that she never would again.
The nurses and doctors worked until they were ready to drop, and then worked some more. No one had time off, everyone was moving as if they were set on fast forward. Supplies were running low by midmorning, blood being one of the most crucial problems. Nurses and doctors alike could take a ten-minute break by donating a pint of blood. Many did, and many did it more than once, when they saw how badly it was needed.
Without conscious thought as to what she was doing, Shelia checked every dark-haired man that came in to make sure that it was not Adam. She did not know whether to be happy or even more worried that she never saw him appear at the hospital. The bombing did not stop until just before noon. For just a few minutes, there was an almost eerie quiet. Then the noise of the hospital once again filled her ears.
She could not ever remember being this tired, or worried, or angry. But there was little time to dwell on any of those emotions as she dealt with the hundreds of injured and/or dying that surrounded her. Sadness was overwhelming her. Shelia came across Kris crying in a corner. She had just held in her arms, the man she had a date with the night before, as he died. Feeling for her friend, and again thinking of Adam, she had to get Kris back to work. There were just too many others that needed her right now. She told her friend that she would have time to mourn later, gave her what she hoped was a comforting hug, and sent her back to work.
To be continued…
